


i like the sound of your heartbeat

by EmotionalSupportPuma



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Werewolf, Canon-Typical Violence, F/F, First Kiss, Fluff, Were-Creatures
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-18
Updated: 2020-03-18
Packaged: 2021-02-22 22:57:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,637
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23201752
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmotionalSupportPuma/pseuds/EmotionalSupportPuma
Summary: It was a well known fact that all Sirens were bestowed with lycanthropy alongside their powers, but Tannis had never gotten to examine the differences of their unique strain before now.
Relationships: Lilith/Patricia Tannis
Comments: 5
Kudos: 28





	i like the sound of your heartbeat

**Author's Note:**

> title is a lyric from "wolf" by skott!

Tannis wasn't entirely sure how she kept getting stuck in these situations. Believing in some cosmic fate that pulled all of the strings was ludicrous...but if there  _ was  _ an ounce of truth to it, well, she had some choice words for this fate. But for now she would have to settle for using those words on the mound of fluff sprawled in the doorway.

"Lilith, you are impeding my work." 

The only response she got was a resounding huff that sent old scraps of paper sliding across the floor. If reading between the lines of what humans did was difficult, trying to figure out what a large, semi-bipedal wolf creature meant was impossible. Was that huff supposed to be a laugh? Sarcasm? Resignation? Tannis wasn't even positive that Lilith could understand her in that form.

Well, she was nothing if not an opportunist and she'd always wanted to study the unique strain of lycanthropy that all Siren's were afflicted with. Tannis cared little for the average werewolf, it was a disease of the blood that was easily passed and easily understood as a whole, but Siren lycanthropy was vastly different. They couldn't turn others, not even into regular werewolves. Their curse appeared at the same time as their powers did. But there were only six Sirens in the universe and that didn't leave a lot of opportunities for research.

Her first plan of action was to promptly pluck a few of the tawny furs. Lilith yelped, leaping awake and leaning back on her hind paws. One massive fore-paw smacked Tannis on the shoulder and threatened to send her tumbling aside. She was surprised to find the movement easy to read, the swipe measured just so that it didn't topple her over completely. It betrayed just how much control Lilith had while in that form. A far cry from the usual brutish werewolves.

"So, you  _ can _ understand me and just chose to ignore me." Tannis pursed her lips in a frown.

Lilith huffed again and fell down onto all fours. 

"Are you just doing that to annoy me?"

Another huff, this time with an ever-so-Lilith head toss. She was used to seeing the motion, even if the meaning behind it eluded her. 

Tannis snatched up a clipboard and some spare paper. Sharp golden eyes trailed after her as she moved with an intelligence to them that left the distinctive feeling of being studied in return. Nervous goosebumps appeared along her arms, stomach twisting uncomfortably at the thought of another  _ person _ paying that close attention to her. It had been easy to forget who she was examining, until this sudden eye contact. If this was how all of her test subjects felt while under observation, perhaps she'd develop some sympathy for them. Perhaps.

Scribbling down various notes was simple, second nature even. Recording things such as fur length, how opposable the digits of each massive paw were, the placement of every noticeable scar. Tannis hadn't the slightest clue how long this interaction would be allowed to happen and she wanted to be as thorough as possible. Even seemingly trivial notes could be important once compared to  _ another _ Siren. Most surprising of all was the way the blue tattoos showed through the fur, staining the roots a muddy shade of navy. She plucked a few for extra testing.

An indignant grunt was the response she got.

"You can leave at any time." Tannis replied scathingly, despite how much she hoped Lilith wouldn't.

Her ears, pointed at the ends and sporting a sizable nick in the left one, flattened as she tossed her head again. That was annoyance, probably.

But still Lilith remained, muzzle resting on Tannis' desk as she wrote. The unfettered attention was beginning to make her skin itch beneath her clothes. A werewolf might seem to be more beast than anything else at first glance, but those predatory eyes were far too human to provide any comfort. They watched without watching, focused less on  _ what _ Tannis was doing and more on  _ how _ she did it. A level of interest that was rarely aimed at someone like her. 

"Can you look somewhere else?"

Lilith blew a stream of air through her nose, ruffling papers with distinct intent, before heaving herself up on those massive paws. 

For a moment Tannis worked in relative peace. Another few minutes and she would have forgotten about the presence completely. Instead she was yanked from her thoughts by the sound of a low, rumbling snarl. The noise faded with every measured pawstep Lilith made across the room. She was rather surprised by how little the noise carried, despite the fact a werewolf's lung capacity had to far exceed her own. Maybe she could convince Lilith to let her take an x-ray when...whatever this was, was over.

Astonishingly, before her eyes the hulking mass began to shimmer and disappear in the same manner as when she used Phasewalk as a human. Within moments she couldn't even guess where Lilith might be lurking. The door remained open, she could be long gone for all Tannis knew. What had spooked her so? Nothing in the room seemed out of the ordinary and she was meticulous about keeping her things exactly where she needed them. 

"Dr. Tannis?" 

An unfamiliar shape, not that she was well-known for her ability for remembering inconsequential people, appeared in the doorway along with the question. She scoffed low in her throat at that. Everyone in Sanctuary knew who she was, if not for her vastly superior intellect, then for her volatile reactions to being approached. Even now she could feel a pressure headache brewing from her sinuses. Only the densest of people would have to  _ ask _ if they had the right doctor.

This stranger approached far too aggressively for her liking. Purposeful steps that rang in Tannis' ears and sent her fingers tapping on her thigh nervously. She had a feeling that if she looked at his face the eyes would be glued to her, probably with an intensity even more unsettling than Lilith's. In an instant she put two and two together. Whoever this was, he had sent a  _ Siren _ into attack mode, which didn't bode well for her. 

Her suspicions were confirmed within another few moments, when the man pulled out a knife. The lights reflected harshly on the blade and her stomach dropped. Had Lilith really abandoned her? It was impossible to tell, but she certainly would have taken care of the situation by now if she was here, wouldn't she? Tannis felt her insides twist with a dismayed sort of disappointment. Before now she wouldn't have said that she counted on anyone besides herself, humans were simply too dim and too unreliable on average, but it was only in this moment that she realized how much she trusted Lilith. And how much it hurt to be abandoned like so, which was a ridiculous feeling for someone like her to be having.

"Nothin' personal, doc" The man said as he padded ever closer, "Just doing my job."

"Which is?" She responded curtly and with far less fear than was lurking within her.

"Someone wants you dead and I'm here to deliver."

Before she could begin to form a response, something flickered just over the man's shoulder. Tannis glanced to his face just in time to see the expression shift vividly. Enough so that even  _ she _ could discern the fear as clearly as words printed in one of her notes. Now Tannis wasn't one to read situations well at all, but given enough context clues her most likely deduction was Lilith hadn't abandoned her to this fate after all.

The very instant that the thought crossed her mind a purple shimmer distorted the air around her would-be assassin. As they faded into view, slender jaws wrapped around his throat so quickly that Tannis could have blinked and missed it completely. Teeth as long as her fingers sank into skin smoothly, the way a sharpened scalpel did much the same. Whether the aim was deliberate or happenstance she couldn't be sure, but they severed the carotid artery with their precision.

To describe the result as a "fountain of blood" would be a severe understatement. She could only watch helplessly as it spewed over her equipment, rendering the notes she had  _ just _ taken useless. Great arcing sprays of scarlet, that only ceased to paint the room haphazardly when the assassin's body crumpled to the floor. There the blood pooled around his body until Tannis was certain they'd need more than one bucket to remove it all. Lilith took a step forward, smearing crimson pawprints on the floor as she approached. 

Blood and gore stained her muzzle, reminiscent of red-hot embers fanning the flames of Lilith's tawny fur. Her lips were still pulled back in the horrifying grin of an apex predator enjoying an easy kill. Any sane human being would have been terrified by the sight, or so Tannis assumed. But she couldn't find it in herself to look at Lilith's triumph, as it dripped from her face, and feel anything other than relief.

" _ You're" _ The voice was garbled both from the form she was in and the blood that ran rivulets between her teeth, " _ welcome _ ."

Rather than stroke Lilith's ego further, Tannis tilted her head to the side, "You can speak like this?"

" _ Not easy _ ." She huffed in response. 

The action sent droplets of blood over her boots. Tannis grimaced and tapped one foot on the floor a few times, though it had little effect. Despite the stressful situation and her usual aversion to touch while tense, she had the sudden urge to run her fingers through the stained fur. Lilith squinted at her as Tannis ever-so-carefully cradled the massive head in her hands. The fur was more coarse than she'd imagined, nowhere near as sleek-feeling and silky as it appeared. 

She could clearly feel the powerful muscles of Lilith's jaws beneath her fingers. The way they shifted as she licked her jowls to remove some of the excess blood from them, and the exhale of hot breath on her wrists. Tannis felt the warmth spread uncomfortably to her own face, for reasons she couldn't begin to fathom. She pulled her hands away from their reverent exploration suddenly, feeling pins and needles in her fingertips.

Lilith watched her step back with piercing eyes, before shaking her fur out. The sound of thick objects snapping in half filled the air. First in groups of one or two and then a chorus of sickening crunches, leaving Tannis to gape in shock. She'd never witnessed a shift from so incredibly close before. From what she'd read, it was an ever-changing affair, but never an easy one to watch. The word 'nauseating' came to mind.

Her fur obscured most of what was happening, but it was the sound that left little to the imagination. Bones crunching and shrinking until they were made to support a human body once more. The wet tearing of skin as it changed shape. If Tannis had to find a description for what the ordeal sounded like, she'd use a hunter butchering their kill, but in double time. She wondered if the shift hurt anywhere near as badly as it seemed to. 

It wasn't a long process. Within a few moments Lilith stood remarkably human, the last of her bestial characteristics disappearing just as swiftly. When she raised her face to grin at Tannis, her canine teeth were still long and sharp. Something in her guts twisted at the sight of them. The grin never faltered, wolfish and commanding in a way that seemed so utterly Lilith that Tannis was surprised she hadn't likened the woman to her lycanthropy before now. Lilith wasn't just a person, she was a wolf and there was no denying it.

"You need to be more careful." Her voice was lower than usual, like it was watered down.

"I take precautions where needed, but a lot of scientific progress can be impeded by pointless caution."

"One of these days you're gonna wake up dead."

Tannis frowned, "That's impossible."

"No, it's not. I can't always be here to protect yo-"

"That's not what I meant. It's impossible for one to wake up when deceased, Lilith."

For a moment she thought the redhead would laugh, as her mouth hung open in momentary disbelief. Tannis found that she couldn't pull her eyes away from those teeth of hers while she did. Warmth and nausea pooled in her stomach, a combination both familiar and overtly unwanted. Green eyes lifted for just a second, long enough to meet golden ones and send a shiver straight down her spine. But she wasn't afraid.

Lilith grabbed her by the collar of her coat suddenly and practically growled, "You can be  _ so _ frustrating sometimes."

Then she leaned in until Tannis could smell the heat and salt of freshly spilled blood on her breath. Could see the tiny blemishes that dotted the skin of Lilith's face. She screwed her eyes shut, from equal parts anticipation and anxiety. The first kiss was quick and chaste, if only because Tannis had little idea of what to do with her own mouth during it. The next one left her bruised by teeth and tongue. 

As much as her instincts wanted to melt into the embrace, to explore this unfamiliar territory for more than just scientific curiosity, the rest of Tannis was sorely out of place in this moment. Her heart hammered away in her chest until it began to hurt. The sound of it coupled with the warm, wet feeling of Lilith's lips became too much for her to bear. If this interaction didn't end soon, there was the very real possibility of Tannis heaving up her lunch. As she pulled away, teeth pinched on her lip in a way that shouldn't have been as pleasant as it was.

Lilith regarded her lazily for a moment. Then the hooded tilt of her eyelids lessened and she leaned back. Her hands remained balled up in the fabric of her coat. Very slowly she pulled them together again, careful to nose against Tannis' hair instead of skin. Her heart stuttered softly, but bearably. Lips pressed against the brown tangles, before Lilith let her go and stepped away completely. 

"Sorry." Lilith said quietly, "Been wanting to do that for a while."

Tannis stared at her hands for a few moments before answering, "It is...okay."

"Just okay?"

She looked up, a quick movement to confirm what she already knew. Tannis couldn't read that expression even if she had all day to try. Faces, emotions, they'd never been her strong suit and probably never would be. Her throat was dry. But she had the distinct feeling that if she didn't offer some sort of reassurance, that Lilith wouldn't ever be this close to her again, and that would be a travesty for more reasons than she could even begin to articulate. 

"What I meant was...I am rather-" Tannis paused to shake her hand idly while she searched for the right words, "Intrigued? Yes, intrigued, by how that made me feel."

Rather than respond verbally, the corner of Lilith's mouth curled upwards and she made a soft noise. Perhaps a laugh of some sort. Tannis frowned at her, mildly offended by the gesture. She had considered that a serious reply. Why did people find her words so amusing, even when she clearly wasn't aiming to be humorous? 

Eventually Lilith said, "Alright, I'll take  _ intrigued _ . That's better than  _ unwanted _ ."

"Of course, if you had been anyone else that sort of advance would most definitely have been unwanted." She sniffed dismissively, as if the words hadn't just confirmed that Lilith was something of a special case to her.

Lilith just smiled, "Of course."

**Author's Note:**

> i just really enjoy writing lycanthropy of any kind, so it was only a matter of time before i wrote something as self-indulgent as this. this probs wont be the only fic i write exploring this au either
> 
> all comments and constructive criticism are greatly appreciated and if ya wanna see more from me, my borderlands tumblr is tannithvibes!!


End file.
